Announcing our 2018 Members Meeting and DPLAfest 2019

In the fall of 2017, the Digital Public Library of America officially launched its all-new Hub Network Membership Program. Together with our vast network of partners and contributing institutions, DPLA connects people to the riches held within America’s libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions. The new Membership Program invites current and future partners to more actively collaborate with DPLA on that shared goal. As members, our hub partners will work together with DPLA and with each other to advance the impact of our network, expand capacity among institutions of all types, sizes, and resource levels, and have a stronger voice in the future of our organization.

In this inaugural year of the Hub Network Membership Program, we look forward to convening an in-person Members Meeting, to be held March 13-14, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Members Meeting will offer a chance for us to hear from and collaborate with our partners, as well as facilitate sharing of ideas, challenges, and resources across our national network. In line with our commitment to providing the best possible service to our partners, the program for the meeting will be shaped by member input, with a focus on workshops, facilitated discussions, and other sessions that have practical outcomes and will further effective collaboration among the network. While participation in the meeting is limited to staff from our member hubs, we look forward to sharing outcomes, updates, and ideas from the meeting with our broad community during and following the event.

In order to fully devote our attention and resources to the success of the Members Meeting and the roll out of the Membership Program, we will not host a DPLAfest in 2018. Instead, DPLAfest, a gathering of DPLA’s broad community for sessions, workshops, and discussions that will be open to all, will return in the spring of 2019. More details and announcements about DPLAfest 2019 will follow later in the year.

To learn more about DPLA’s Membership Program or the upcoming Members Meeting, contact DPLA Network Manager Kelcy Shepherd at kelcy@dp.la.